Creating a ‘green’ interior design in your establishment is all about adding features and making improvements that reflect your ethics, values and food options. Now, if you’re looking to create a this kind of interior, it’s likely that your restaurant, bar, café or hotel has environmentally friendly values that you want to present to your customers through your choice of interior.
Matching these values with your interior design involves using sustainable materials and techniques that are less harmful to both ourselves and the world itself. The choice of furniture supplier, materials, craftsmanship and lighting all work together to create an eco-friendly design.
To help you in your quest, here is a buying guide for transforming to a green interior with ethical furniture and features:
Durability
In terms of being environmentally friendly, it’s always better to invest in higher-grade and durable furniture than to settle for low-quality furniture which will need replacing every year or two. With durable, sturdy furniture, built for your working environment, the likelihood of it ending up in a landfill is severely lowered.
Guilt-free materials
Your choice of materials has a direct impact on the environment and on how your establishment is viewed by your customers. Sustainable wood, recyclable metal and natural materials are always better than plastics and leathers in creating a worthy ambience.
Cast iron, in particular, is a great option because the material lasts an extremely long time and can be repainted in different colours to give a new lease of life. Plus, it’s 100% recyclable!
While plastics are often best avoided, some plastics including polypropylene, are widely recycled and have a fairly low energy demand in doing this. Our Monaco aluminium chair with plastic woven rattan is the perfect example of a good plastic option for outdoor use.
When considering your seating’s upholstery, the fabric should preferably be wool (if you’re comfortable using animal products), linen or cotton. Man-made synthetics can harm the environment.
The kinds of materials mentioned above when complemented by surroundings such as brick feature walls, concrete flooring and green living walls add a touch of rustic elegance to your interior.
Restored furniture pieces
If you are considering converting your establishment interior into an environmentally friendly one, invest in some retro pieces that you’ve reconditioned. Doing so adds a certain charm to the interior and ultimately matches with the ethos of your establishment.
Restoring items to their original form or using their parts to create a new piece of furniture is the perfect example of being environmentally-friendly, just what you’re trying to achieve!
So, before you throw those old pieces of furniture out, stop and think if they’re worth salvaging. These pieces might just be able to act as your standout, showcase furniture pieces!
Read our post for some tips and examples on upcycling furniture.
Let the light in
You’ll be amazed at how much difference natural light makes to your interior. If you don’t have many windows, we’d advise you to get a quote for adding windows or, for those on the ground floor, bi-fold doors.
What we’re trying to do here is let as much natural air and light in as possible, to create an open and natural setting with a lower reliance on electricity. If this isn’t possible, optimise what you do have by using mirrors to reflect the light and clear glass partitions.
Add some green
You can’t consider yourself a ‘green’ establishment without having some actual green features, can you? Planters, indoor trees and living green walls bring real life to the establishment. They help filter the air of harmful chemicals and create ‘healthy’ tones to the interior. We humans are hardwired to be attracted to nature and something so much as being close to plants is a well-known mood-booster.
You can complement your natural green tones with some light and airy furniture choices, too. The Bella Chair comes in a mint green colour as well as white.
Research your eco-friendly furniture supplier
When you are looking for environmentally-friendly commercial furniture for your establishment, be sure to look into your supplier. Find out where they source their materials from, how they deliver and what their values are. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Sustainable furniture suppliers are out there (including Trent Furniture), it’s up to you to find them.